Going the distance

I had returned from Paris after my fellowship in April 2012. I was still reeling to the difference in life and lifestyle. My clinic looked nothing like the plush and smart department of around 150 dermatologists nor was I working for the research projects funded by Pierre Fabre or L'Oreal. I craved for croissants and fromage. But one can't keep day-dreaming and actually has to start working. The prime objective of earning bread and later thinking of cheese was an appropriate thing to do.

Hence I started off working in small polyclinics which had better chances of me getting patients than a premium corporate hospital where established dermatologists ruled the roost.

One of those days in April 2012, a man said he had come from Khatra, a subdivision in the district of Bankura. He helped me recollect that I had seen him for leprosy while at CMC Vellore in 2008. He had swollen hands and feet, which looked like a lepra reaction. It felt nice that he had taken the trouble to find me after these many years. I wrote off his prescription and asked him to review in 4 weeks. To my surprise, he was back after a week. This time his hands and feet were no longer swollen. The steroids had worked their magic. He had another 11 people with him. I wondered why. These dozen men had come from Khatra because they wanted me to start a clinic in their home town. The closest hospital was 50 Kms away for them and being leprosy endemic, they had plenty of people who had deformities and reactions and not enough doctors. Khatra was located in Jangalmahal, the tribal rich region bordering  Jharkhand and was politically volatile with Maoist rebellions. This was also going to be a 100 Km distance for me and leprosy is never a money-spinner. But I had been trained to do this and this was my calling.

I gave in to their demands and decided to go fortnightly. The patient numbers multiplied and soon the crowd went up to 150 and more which is when I decided, I needed a cut off. Most patients were affording and the rest had theirs waived off. It felt good in a way. I was connecting with the people and the squalor or heat seemed to be more bearable. 

Gradually, things started changing on my home front. I had more patients in my hometown and I had family. A trip of 200 Kms to and fro seemed a headache and I would feel exhausted by the time I returned. The news of my large crowds had spread to other practicing dermatologists who viewed Khatra as a 'potential' site and started offering their services as well. I was happy for the place and it's people. I thought, maybe I could cut the distance and quit.

Then it happened. A patient came in one day with a bottle of honey for me. He said he had procured it himself in the mangrove forests of Sunderbans. Khatra was at least 300 Kms from Sunderbans. A friendly old man, he offered to show me around and let me stay with him if I was willing to travel to his home. I had no idea that this man had been traveling from Sunderbans along with a few other patients from his surrounding villages to consult me for so many months already. Out of curiosity, I asked him the route he needed to take back. He smiled and said, oh! that's easy. From Khatra, I take a bus to Bangla (1 hour) where I pick up my stuff and take a bus to Bankura(2 hours). From there a  train to Howrah takes about 3.5 hours. You can take a local bus from outside Howrah station to Sealdah( 1 hour). Trains from Sealdah go to Canning(3 hours). At Canning, you could either take a bus or auto to Dhamakhali. From Dhamakhali, there is a boat service to Sardarpara, from which an engine van takes you to Jogeshganj Bazar. From Jogeshganj Bazar, get on a van to Hemnagar chowmatha. Along the Chowmatha, there is a canal. Walk along the canal for a couple of kilometers, and ask anyone my name. Everyone knows me there! If I start now, I should be home by tomorrow evening!'

I was speechless.

And all this time, I had been thinking that I was going the distance.

P.S. Dr Soumyajit Bose, BOOT, has started working at Sarenga in Khatra subdivision and has impacted the healthcare of this region in a big manner now. Dr Philip Mitta worked here for sometime.